


No Wonder Klaus Drinks

by taylor_tut



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drug Addiction, Drug Withdrawal, Gen, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Good Sister Vanya Hargreeves, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Sober Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 15:36:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18368954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: A request from my tumblr for Klaus having a rough day soberly dealing with the demons and his siblings talking him through it.





	No Wonder Klaus Drinks

Diego nearly dropped his knives when he walked into the living room of his childhood home to see Five sitting in a chair across from Klaus, who was cradling a drink in one hand and a small, white pill between his fingers of the other.

“What the hell, Five?” he asked incredulously. “I asked you to watch him.”

“I am watching him,” Five replied. His eyes hadn’t left Klaus, who hadn’t even bothered to look up. 

“Yeah, watching him play with fire,” Diego said. “He’s supposed to be sober. We need him sober.” 

Klaus waved the hand that held the pill high in the air as if to show it off. “One in the hand is worth two in the bush,” he drawled nonsensically, but the kind of nonsensical that implied that Klaus was lucid and unimpaired. “Though it’s worthless if I can’t put it in my mouth or up my nose.”

“Don’t you dare,” Five warned. “I can be over there beating the shit out of you faster than you can swallow.” 

So, they were having a moment of some sort, Diego realized. One of those incomprehensible, insane sorts of stare-downs that could only occur between the stubborn asshole who’d outlasted the apocalypse and the mercurial bastard who talked to more dead people than living ones. Sometimes Diego wondered what normal families fought about. 

“Okay,” he caved, deciding that his best bet would be to join Five on the couch and wait for whatever would happen next.

 

That turned out to be Vanya, who entered nearly fifteen minutes later, clearly trying to rush in to grab something from the house in a hurry that was derailed by the scene in the living room. Diego heard her quick little steps walk toward the stairs, falter, stop, then come slowly back toward them. She took in the view for only a moment before she spoke.

“Is there a reason we’re watching Klaus stare at a Vicodin like it’s a skull in a Shakespeare play?” she asked. 

“I think we’re waiting for him to make the right choice and flush it,” Diego replied, “but I’m not sure.”

“I’m hoping he tries to eat it so I can punch him,” Five admitted.

Vanya frowned. “And Klaus?” she asked. He’d been talked over, talked around all day; all week; all his life, really. Everyone talked  _about_  Klaus: talked about his drug habit and his seemingly uncontrollable powers and about whatever were they going to  _do_  with him, but no one ever bothered to ask. He clenched the pill in his fist and slammed that down on the arm of the couch. He calmed down before he spoke. 

“Klaus,” he replied, “is contemplating whether his sobriety is really worth constantly having to deal with the screaming voices of the dead.” Five sat up a little straighter, his eyes still trained to his brother, and no one said anything. Klaus usually finished talking a few times before he was really done with what he had to say. 

“You want to know who I talked to today?” he asked. The silence was affirmative. “I have fuck-all idea. Some kid, probably only seven or eight, who died in a house fire last year.  She followed me down the street, crying for help. All burned up; horrible scars; so much blood.” He paused again, another false finish point.

“I tried to ignore her for a while,” he continued, “but I just—I felt so bad for her, you know? Did you know that not being high means that you have to feel things and care about people?”

Vanya offered a half smile. “Yeah, Klaus,” she replied, “that’s kind of the point.”

“How do you get anything done?”

“It’s not easy,” she replied. 

The aside was over, and Klaus’ eyes turned steely once more. “So I asked her what she needed. She said that she wanted to tell her fucking mom that she was okay. She pointed at a house and said that was where she was staying.”

Diego’s heart sank. Christ, no wonder Klaus drank. “What did you do?”

“What the hell would you do? I knocked on the door and told her.” 

“And what did she say?” Five asked.

Klaus pointed to a dark spot on his cheek, which Diego realized wasn’t simply a trick of the light, but a bruise.

“Broke down crying and hit me in the face,” he replied. “And I don’t blame her.” Something small clattered to the floor at Klaus’ feet and Diego didn’t have to look down to see that it was the pill. 

“I’m going to bed,” he declared. 

“Klaus,” Diego called, “come on. Don’t just walk away from this.”

But Klaus never really listened to anybody, did he? He pushed past Vanya in the doorway and she made no move to stop him. Diego looked at Five, so young in face but so old in spirit, yet who had gone so long without human contact that he had once again forgotten how it worked. He placed a hand across Five’s back.

“He’ll be fine,” he reassured. Vanya moved in too, sitting beside the two of them.

“Klaus clearly needs some sleep,” she added. “He gets moody when he’s exhausted.”

“He’s probably still withdrawing, too,” Diego said. “I’m sure that by tomorrow, he’ll be back down here ready to talk your ear off.”

Five nodded, his face betraying no emotion, but his siblings knew him better and could sense the imperceptible slackening of his shoulders and the silent breath he stopped holding. 

“I asked you to watch him,” Diego said, “and you did good.” 

Five stood at that point, pointing himself toward his bedroom. “I’m going to get some sleep, too,” he said. He didn’t wait for a reply before heading upstairs. 

“Goodnight,” Vanya called after him. Even if he didn’t care to reply, it was nice to hear someone’s voice before he tried to fall asleep. He’d hope to be able to see Klaus at breakfast the next morning, too. and work things out in that department. 

God, things had been so much easier when it was just him and Dolores. 


End file.
